You Are the Brand

Acknowledgments

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I’d like to acknowledge a team of professionals without whom this book would never have been completed. Stand & Deliver vice president of marketing, Mary Gamba, and this book’s editor, Theresa Foy DiGeronimo, are undoubtedly a dynamic duo. Their ability to collaborate, challenge, and push me to be a more concise, clear, and compelling writer is unquestionable. Consistently, both Mary and Theresa not only recommended, but insisted, that certain case studies and chapters in this book be included, while others be taken out. Their decision making was guided by what would be most valuable to the readers of this book so that those readers could take this information and more effectively brand themselves and their organizations. You Are the Brand is a much better book because of Mary and Theresa’s contributions. In addition, I was blessed to have a terrific group of researchers lead by my associate, Jacqui Cooke, who was a former student of mine in college and has grown to be a smart, resourceful, and dedicated staff person. Further, while on high school and college breaks, interns including Brian McHugh, Victoria Eisenstein, and my own son Stephen, also contributed to this research effort. I am confident that Brian at Michigan State,Victoria at the University of Delaware, and Stephen at Fordham University have all grown from the experience of working on this book. I would also like to acknowledge and thank the many professionals who took the time to talk with me and explain their brand—how it works and when it doesn’t work, what they’ve done to fix or adjust it. All of these professionals have demanding and busy schedules, but they took the time to share their stories with me and my readers. For that, I will be forever indebted. I also want to thank my colleagues in public television, where I have worked as an anchor for nearly two decades, particularly those at Thirteen/WNET (PBS) in New York, as well as my editors at The Star-Ledger of Newark, for which I write a weekly column, xiii Adubato_(Brand)_final 4/11/11 11:28 AM Page xiii and NJBiz, a respected publication for which I’ve written multiple columns on the subjects of branding, communication, and marketing. I also want to acknowledge my family, particularly my wife, Jennifer, who in spite of having our third child together at the time of writing this book, did her best to listen (or at least make believe she was listening) as I read through constant drafts of the case studies. I want to thank my three sons, Stephen, Nick, and Chris. Chris, who is only six, works consistently with me in our home “bookstore” organizing my books and packing them in boxes for upcoming events and seminars. He is already working on building his own brand and is quite entrepreneurial in spite of his tender age. Our littlest one, Olivia, who was born at the time I finished this book, is too young to really know what “branding” is all about, but I’m confident that one day her personal and professional brand will make the rest of the family proud. Finally, I want to thank MarlieWasserman at Rutgers University Press, who once again demonstrated her belief that as an author I have something to contribute to the larger community that is interested and concerned about communication, leadership, media, and branding. xiv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Adubato_(Brand)_final 4/11/11 11:28 AM Page xiv You Are the Brand Adubato_(Brand)_final 4/11/11 11:28 AM Page xv Adubato_(Brand)_final 4/11/11 11:28 AM Page xvi ...